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Planning commission approves historic design review, color variance for Snoqualmie Ice Cream
Summary
The Snoqualmie Planning Commission on July 21 approved a historic design review and a variance allowing a color from the newly adopted palette for Snoqualmie Ice Cream at 8102 Railroad Avenue; staff said the front façade restoration will return transom windows removed by mid-20th-century alterations.
The Snoqualmie Planning Commission on July 21 approved a historic design review and a color-variance request for Snoqualmie Ice Cream, 8102 Railroad Avenue, allowing repairs to fire-damaged glass and restoration of historic transom windows on the building's Railroad Avenue façade.
Andrew Love, planning staff, presented the application (DRB2025-054), telling the commission the front portion of the building is a contributing resource in the city's landmark district (Historic Resource Inventory No. 1352) while a rear building on Falls Avenue is noncontributing. Love said the city received the application on June 19, issued a notice of completeness on June 30 and published the combined notice of application and public hearing on July 3. "Staff recommends approval for historical design review and variance permit application number DRB2020Five-four with the following condition," Love said, then noted he had updated the staff report after confirming the building and street-use permits had already been issued.
The applicant proposed replacing fire-damaged glass and restoring transom (clerestory) windows that had been obscured by shingles in a mid-20th-century renovation. Love told commissioners the rear building was rebuilt "like for like" after the fire and that the primary variance issue was the proposed exterior color on the rear building; that white is listed in the city's recently adopted color palette. Love described the proposal as "substantially consistent" with chapter 17.35 of the Snoqualmie Municipal Code and recommended approval with a condition requiring permits for any additional work (for example, new signs) before that work begins.
During the public hearing Heather Dean, representing Snoqualmie Ice Cream with co-owner Julie Chung, confirmed that the lower front windows would be black-framed to match adjacent storefronts and offered an apology for completing some work before finalizing the review. "This last year has been very trying, and there are some things that we've gotten out of order," Dean said.
Following the hearing the commission moved to approve the variance "as written inclusive of the stipulations entered by staff." The motion passed without recorded opposition.
The commission's action restores key historic features on the Railroad Avenue façade while allowing the rear building to retain a color from the council-approved palette. Staff noted that owners of contributing and landmark properties may pursue exterior-restoration grant funding from programs such as 4Culture and King County preservation grants if they later seek larger-scale work.
The commission's formal decision includes the staff condition that any additional exterior work requires the appropriate permits before work begins; Love said two conditions listed in the earlier draft had already been met and were removed from the final staff report. The commission closed the public hearing at 7:18 p.m. and approved the permit shortly thereafter.
Next steps: the applicant may obtain any additional permits required for signs or further exterior work; staff retained authority to verify permit submissions and compliance with the design-review conditions.
